1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to surgical fasteners for securing objects to body tissue and, more particularly, to surgical tacks for fastening a surgical mesh to underlying tissue during surgical procedures to repair body tissue, such as in hernia repair procedures.
2. Background of Related Art
In various surgical procedures, fasteners in the form of staples or the like are employed for holding tissue portions together to facilitate healing of a wound or incision. Other tissue fastening devices have been proposed and differ from staples per se in that these other devices may have a plurality of components and do not have to be clinched in the manner used to set a staple. For example, such fastening devices require access to both sides of a tissue site since they typically include an upper section having a crown and legs and a lower receiver, wherein the lower receiver engages and locks the legs of the upper section.
Although many of the above-discussed types of tissue fastening devices and techniques are satisfactory in various applications, there is a need to provide improved fastening devices which are relatively easier to apply and relatively difficult to remove. In particular, there is a need for surgical fastening devices which do not require a second separate piece or receiver to lock, form or maintain the fastener in place in tissue, which can be applied and secured from one side of a tissue site, most desirably in an endoscopic or open surgical procedure, and which overcome the disadvantages associated with conventional surgical staples.